Cancer has always been a dreaded disease and with increasing concentration of carcinogens, it is a matter of increasing concern to all. Early detection and treatment are the best hope for curing or retarding cancer and the need for a test enabling early detection is great.
Detection procedures prior to the present invention have been uncertain, e.g. palpation, and/or complicated and expensive, e.g. fluoroscopy.
Researchers have been able to identify specific proteins and lipids in human sera that indicate the presence or carcinomas. These macromolecules are usually referred to as tumor antigens or tumor markers and have been demonstrated to be present in most carcinomas.
It has recently been found that a material known as coenzyme A-synthesizing protein complex, hereinafter referred to as CoA-SPC, of bakers' yeast, bonds to protein tumor antigen. The material has been labelled with a radioactive isotope and used in an R.I.A. method for detecting the presence or protein tumor antigen. However, the procedure is time consuming and the equipment for assay by this method is expensive. Also, decay of the radioactivity in the reagent and disposal of radioactive test material create problems, and possible transfer of radioactivity may interfere with the reliability of the test.